ADVENTURES OF 

A MIER PRISONER 



uViA'iM«i^<A<^<Ait^dirtiaiiil>tf)(fln&ia 



Being the Thrilling Experiences of 

John Rafas Alexander 

Who was with the Ill-Fated 
Expedition Which Invaded Mexico 



Published by 
FRONTIER TIMES 
Bandera, Texas 



F 390 
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ADVENTURES OF 






A MIER PRISONER 






iflfi^ifiit^itttaiAi^iiVi&tttditirahtt 






Being the Thrilling Experiences of 

John Rafas Alexander 

Who was with the IllFated 
Expedition Which Invaded Mexico * 






Published by 
FRONTIER TIMES 
Bandera, Texas 



_ 



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©If a mmw 

Thrilling Story of John Rufus Alexander, a Member of 
Ill-Fcited Expedition into Mexico 

Written by John Warr^ Hunter 



At dawn, Suptt-iiiber 11, 1842, Gen. 
Woll at the head o)' 1,200 troops took 
possession of the town of San Antonio. 
'I'li(( battle on the Salado followed on the 
17tli, where a mere handful of men 
under old "Paint" Caldwell, after 
lighting nearly all day, sent the minions 
of Santa Anna reeling back into San An- 
tonio On the retreat of these dastards 
tbey encoiinterwi DawsiOin's company 
M'hich was trying to reach Captain Cald- 
well 's forces, and, ignoring the white flag 
which was hoisted in token of surrender, 
these brave men were put to the .sword, 
only a few escaping to tell the story of 
Mexican perfidy and of Mexican atrocity. 
Upon WoU's advent into San Antonio, 
the call to arms rang out and was borne 
on the wings of wind from the Gaudalupe 
to the Brazos, from the Brazos to the 
Sabine; the blood of Dawson's men 
cried aloud for vengeance, and Texas 
hastily responded to the appeal. The 
call reached me at my home in Brazoria 
county, and seizing my rifle and mount- 
ing my best horse I huii-ied forward and 
.ioined Capt. Shelby McNeal's company 
and a few days later we reached San 
Antonio, where wc remained in camp 
several weeks. 

I wish to saj' just here, at the outset, 
that it is not my purpose to write the 
Mier expedition, giving in minute detail 
its causes and fatal results; able writers 
have faithfully accomplished that task, 
and all the world has read the harrowing 
story of Mier, the shocking tragedy of 
Salado, where seventeen of my comrades 
were inhumanly put to death by Santa 
Anna's orders, and of the long and cruel 
imprisonment of those who were finally 
driven in chains into the Castle of 
Perote. For the benefit of my children 
and those of my countrymen who would 
preserve the record of suffering and 
saeritiee of the men who fought for 
Texas an'fl who laid in blood and tears 
the foundation of a mighty State, I, the 
only survivor of" the six who escaped 
from Salado, and amid the evening 
shadows of a long and eventful life, as- 



sume the pleasing task of placing upon 
record a truthful account of my pei-sonal 
experience as a member of the Mier 
Expedition, as a Mier prisoner, and my 
providential escape from Salado, and 
something of my sufferings while mak- 
ing my way through those inhospitable 
regions of Northern Mexico, back to 
Texas and home. 

1 do not recall the date of our de- 
parture from San Antonio for the Rio 
Grande; suffice it to say that our ai-my, 
1,000 to 1,200 strong, under cojnmand of 
General Somervell, set forth and aiter a 
tedious march, reached Laredo, where 
we remained in camp two or three days 
The spiirit of revenge and retaliation for 
numberless wrongs was rife among our 
men, who all the while had been made 
to believe that we were to be led into the 
enemy's coimtry for the purpose of 
administering just and merited chastise- 
ment, and when General Somervell broke 
camp late one evening at Laredo, and 
took up the line of march in a direction 
ciontrary to that of our expectations, 
loud mutinous murmurings were heard 
in all the ranks. After marching all 
night, we halted for breakfast and see- 
ing the discontent and threatening at- 
titude of his men, and the spirit of insub- 
ordination that menaced the entire com- 
mand, Gen. Somervell assembled the 
army and made a speech, at the conclu- 
sion of which he tendered his resigna- 
tion as commander-in-chief and request- 
ed the men to elect his successor, adding 
that he would continue with the army 
and would go as far as any man dare go. 
This later statement seemed so generous 
and appealed to the boys in such friend- 
ly force that they refused to accept the 
offered resignation, but by almost unani- 
mous vote, continued Somervell as com- 
mander of the expedition. After this 
expression of confidence the general step- 
ped out in an open space, raised a flag 
and asked all who would pledge 
obedience to orders to rally to the colors, 
and all who wished to abandon the expe- 
dition and return home wera at liberty 



THE Ain-EXTIRES OF A MIER PRISONER 



to <\o so. Five or six hundred men fell 
in line about the flag, while over three 
hundred preferred going home, and a 
short time later, under the leadership of 
Capt. Bennett took up tlie line oT march 
for San Antonio. 

With (hirrero as our next objective 
point, we marche 1 dovvii the river and 
when nearly opposite that i>lace, which 
is three or four miles from the Rio 
Grande, we crossed to the south bank by 
swimming the stream and went into 
eamp near town. From this camp 
General Somervell made a requisition on 
the town authorities for a large supplj' 
of hats, shoes ami blankets, all of which 
our men stood in great need, and also a 
supply of provisions. The ob.sequious 
alcalde of the town agreed to comply 
\vith the demand made ui)on him and 
his people, only asking that time be 
granted in which to gather up supplies. 
The fir.st cousigmnent came in, and its 
inspection brought forth shouts of merri- 
ment from some, while othersr those of 
direct need of clothing, vented their 
disgust in explosions of profanity. The 
stutf delivered consisted of a lot of old 
tattered garments that would shame a 
beggar; the men refused to touch it, and 
the alcalde was told to take it out of our 
camp, throw it in the river, and then 
hurry back to town and teli his people 
they would have tj do better, else, souui- 
thing was going to happen, right away. 
With regard to i>rovisious, the alcalde 
put up a doleful tale. He said the 
country was exhausted, that his own 
people were on the verge of starvation, 
and that no supplies were to be had. 
We remained in camp several days, after 
which with feelinga of utter disgust and 
disappointment General Somervell issued 
orders to recross the river, and take up 
the line of march for San Antonio. 
Safely on the Texas side, we went into 
camp, and then came a storm of ci'imi- 
natiou, vituperation, separation and re- 
organization. Forgetting his pledge 
that he would go as far as any man in 
the expeditiou, General Somervell had 
determined to abandon the enterprise 
and return home, but there were restless 
determined spirits in the army who re- 
solved to follow his leadership no farther. 
They swore they would never return 
home until the objects of the expedition 
had been accompLi.shed, and Tom Green 
ftsked Somervell il' he ever heard of any 



glory accruing to the French general 
who marched his army up the hill and 
then haired and marched back down the 
hill. As I remembf-r, those mo.st ve- 
hemenently opposed to a retrograde 
movement were Captains Cameron. 
Pearson, Ryan, Eastland, Buster, Gen. 
Green and Dr. Brenham. A call was 
iiiade for volunteers to carry the war 
into Mexico, and'three hundred fell in 
line. Colonel Fisher was elected com- 
mander and those of my company, Mc- 
Niel's, who remained firm, re-organized 
and elected Ree.se as captain. Somervell 
and his followers started for San Antonio 
and Fisher s army of 300 resumed the 
marc^ down the river, selecting the 
town of Mier as the first point of attack. 
It being late in December, the country 
was bare, bleak and desolate, affording 
little grass for our horses and less sub- 
sistance for the men, in consequence of 
which many of our horses became ex- 
hausted and had to be abandoned. This 
placed some thirty men on foot, but 
fortunately for these footmen, Gen. Tom 
Green discovered two flat boats which 
the Mexicans had attempted to conceal 
along -the river; these were "holy- 
.s.toned,'' rigged up and put in commi.s- 
sion, the footmen were taken aboard, a 
red flag was hoisted, and "Commodore" 
Greeii, with his new navy, set sail down 
the Rio Grande. Army and fleet kept 
pace, and at nightfall the "Commodore" 
would hove to, cast anchor, land his 
marines and camp with the land forces, 
adding to our depleted commis.sary 
any suppplies he may have captured dur- 
ing the day's cruise. And thus we con- 
tinued until we reached a point opposite 
the town of Mier. Here, I should state 
that during the descent, we encountered 
a few of the inhabitants ; there were only 
a few ranches on the Texas side; these 
had beeen abandoned and the stock 
driven olf. Green's boatmen came upon 
a few while foraging on the Mexican 
.side along the river, but these had little 
or nothing worth taking and none of 
them could or would give any informa- 
tion as to whether or not there were any 
Mexican troops in the country. 

On the evening of the 21st we went 
into camp opposite Mier, four of five 
miles distant, on the following morning 
we cros.sed the river and marched into 
town; where a requisition for clothing 
and provisions was made on the alcalde. 



/ 



HKS OF A MTBR PRISONER 



Tiie lesponsf was prninpi and energetic: 
the contributions were piled in heaps and 
lieaps on the plaza until Fisher soon 
found he had more than he expected and 
having no means of transportation to 
remove the supplies, an agreement was 
liad in which it was stipulated tliat the 
goods should be. delivered at our cam)) 
on the following «ioniing. We then re- 
turDe<l to our camp on the east bank of 
the river, taking the alcalde along with 
us as security for the faithful p irform- 
aiiee of the contract. The next day was 
sjient patiently waiting for the promised 
supplies, likewise tlie day following, and 
no supplies enme. ^Meantime Captain 
Raker and spies bad been kept on the 
lookout on the south side of the river 
and on Cliristmas eve they eapturerl a 
Mexican from M-hom it was learned 
that Cxen. Ampudia wilii a large force 
had reached Mier and had forbidden the 
fulfillment of t!ie alcalde's promise. 
On learning this, we left our horses and 
.amp outfit in charge of a detail of 
forty men, crossed the rivei- and by 4 
o'clock in the afternoon we were on the 
mai'ch for Mier, determined to beard the 
lion in his den. We liad not gone far 
when we came in sight of the Mexicans, 
who had marched out to meet us, but 
when they saw us they fell back to •'he 
town. 

General Ureen with his "marines" le<l 
the advance, and at nightfall we reached 
the outskirts of Mier, and were halted 
on the banks of the little river, the Al- 
eantra I believe they called it, which in 
the darkness seemed impassable for foot- 
meji. While General Green and others 
were searching for a crossing, Joe Berry 
fell from a high bank and sustained a 
broken thigh. He Avas carried and plac- 
ed in a deserted jacal nearby and left 
in charge of Dr. Sinnickson, Bate Berry 
and six others. General Green soon 
found a crossing and we moved fouward 
under a heavy fire, reaching one of the 
main streets leading to the plaza whei-e 
the enemy's aitilicry and main froces 
seemed to be stationed. The old alcalde 
whom we held as hostage, had been 
l)laced in the care of an old Irish sea 
captain named l4j'()ns. When wc had 
ci-ossed file Alcautra, General Green 
happened alongside of Lyons and, not 
seeing the alcal-de, asked as to his where- 
abouts. "Shure, sor, an' he's gone 
adhr-rift!" replied the old sea dog. A 



laugh and a cheer rang down the line as 
we hurried along. 

The firing of grape, which swept the 
street, forced us 1o take shelter around 
the corners, where we would load our 
rifles, then betv'een fires, or while the 
enemy was reloading, we would ru.sh out 
and on to the next corner. Early in the 
night a light rain set in,, and in order to 
keep our powder dry, we entered the 
houses along the street and chopped our 
way through the walls until daylight 
found us within c'cse rifle .shot of the 
plaza. 

The Mexican soldiers covered the flat 
roofs of the lumses, many of whom were 
directl.v over our beads when we entered 
the lower apartments, but when, it 
became light enough to draw a bead on 
those in sight we punched loojihoJes in 
the walls and soon silenced the artillery 
for the time being and drove the yellow 
rascals from the loofs. The Mexicans 
rallied and the firing continued until 
about noon. I do not remember the 
number we lost during this time. A 
comrade by the name of Jones was killyd 
i)y my side; Colonel Fisher was severely 
wounded and there were others, but 
T have forgotten their names. During 
the progress of this fighting or earlier 
in the day a party of Mexicans surround- 
ed the .iaeal in which we had left Joe 
Kerry with a broken thigh. His brother. 
Bate Berry, Dr. Sinnickson, and others 
were made prisioners, but as Joe Berry 
was unable to walk: he was murdered 
at the very feet of his pleading brother, 
who later escaped a like fate by drawing 
a white bean at Salado, lived through a 
long captivity at Perote, returned home, 
and when the war with Mexico and the 
United States Ijroke out, was among the 
first to enlist under Jack Hays, and with 
tiger-like ferocity fought on many fields 
to avenge his brother's murder. 

About 1 o'clock the Mexicans made a 
desperate charge, but were repulsed. 
During this charge I thiidi every Texan 
rifle was loaded, jjrimed and ready for 
service, and every shot fired brought 
down a Mexican. The repulse was swift, 
bloody and complete, as I thought, and 
the cheers of our boys almost shook the 
town. A little afler this repulse Dr. 
Sinnickson, who was then a prisoner, was 
sent under a white flag to us, and on his 
appearance We were ordered to cease 
firing. A moment later several Mexican 



THE ADVENTURES OP A MIBR PRISONER 



officers rode forward and called for Col. 
Piaher. The Colonel met them and, 
after a long parley, he returned with the 
annonnoement that he had been summon- 
ed to surrender under the promise that 
we should be treated as prisonei-s of war, 
that we should not be sent to Mexico, 
but held on the Rio Grande border until 
exchanged, or until peace was declared, 
and that we had just one hour to deside, 
and if the terms of surrender proposed 
by them were not accepted in that time 
we would be shown no quarter. 

I have no language to describe the 
iicene of confusion that followed this 
announcement. The older men, those 
who had fought at San Jacinto or had 
lost friends or relatives at the Alamo and 
Goliad,, became furious and denounced 
those in favor of surrender as cowards 
and traitors. They argued that our ad- 
vance so far had been one of triumph, 
that we had whipped the enemy back 
from the start, and now had Ampudia 
badly beaten, and that he had resorted 
to strategy on order to frighten us into 
surrender. And thus the muddje con- 
tinued until the hour had almost expired,. 
Some wanted to fight to the last ditch, 
others wanted to continue the fight until 
night and try to make our escape under 
cover of darkness. Those from the 
States, and the weaker element, who had 
small grievances and who had yet to 
learn of Mexican perfidy, favored sur- 
rendering, and began to stack their arms 
on the plaza. Seeing this, Captain 
Cameron made a final appeal and propos- 
ed that if as many as 100 men would 
stand by him he would lead them out 
even if he had to cut their way through 
the eoiemy's line. Only about sixty re- 
sponded, and it was then decided that 
the number was too small, and the entire 
command yielded as prisoners of war. 
This fatal mistake was made on the 
evening of Christmas Day, 1842. In this 
action we lost sixteen killed, including 
those who died later of their wounds, 
besides twenty-six more or less severely 
wounded, out of a total of 261 that went 
into battle. I never learned how many 
the Mexicans lost; they held us in Mier 
until the following Saturday, nearly a 
week, and during much of the time they 
were digging graves and burying their 
dead, and from this we estimated that 
they must have lost at least, 500 killed 
outright, and, counting the wounded, 



which must have been double the number 
killed, wdtild show that each Texan 
killed or wounded three Mexicans, 
and if we had been allowed to continue 
the fight a few hours longer we would 
have wiped out Ampudia and his entire 
army, whose numerical strength was 
•riven as 2,000 men. 

On Saturday the last day of the old 
year, we started on a long march to 
Matamoras, leaving our wounded in Mier 
in charge of Dr. Sinnickson. We were 
guarded by Ampudia 's whole army, and 
at Camargo we wore held up one day 
while each man's name, nativity, age 
and occupation was placed upon record. 
When we reached the next town 
Reyinosa, we were halted on the out- 
skirts of the miserable village, in order 
to allow the artillery to move forward, 
take po.sition and fire salvos in honor of 
the immortal Ampudia and his great vic- 
tory over the hated Tejanos. Finally, 
when all were in readiness, we marched 
into town, where we found triumphal 
arches on the only street, and these were 
adorned with every species of childish 
tawdry. The rabble lined the street and 
fiat roofs and shouted themselves hoarse; 
now in laudation of the benemerito, 
Ampudia, and next, hurling anathemas 
at the Texas prisoners. 

When the general entered the plaza he 
was preceded by about a dozen boys 
togged out in what these barbarians con- 
sidered holiday costumes, and these 
little friskies danced, or rather capered, 
before his mightiness while he, with his 
prisoners, marched three times around 
the (iltli-laden plaza. All during this 
time tliere was a babble of noise, the fir- 
ing of cannon, the blare of nerve racking 
music and the strident shouts of the 
multitude. At the close of this patriotic 
demonstration the general and his staff, 
led by a few sleek old priests, entered 
the church, where they went through 
some sort of ceremony, thanksgiving I 
suppose. 

From Reyinosa we were marched to 
Matamoras, a long and painful journer, 
and when we reached that place another 
triumphal reception awaited the "con- 
quei-iug hero. " We wcj-e held there three 
days and during the time Major Oldham 
sent for an Englishman, then a resident 
of Matamoras, and whom he had former- 
ly known in Kentucky. This generous 
acquaintance came promptly, and he 



THE ADTENTTJRES OF A MTER PRISONER 



loaned Major Oldliani $100 and advanced 
to the prisonei'B the sum of $2,000. In 
addition, to this he gave as a. free gift 
$5 to each man that chanced to be from 
Kentucky. From Mataiuoras on January 
14, we started for Monterey in charge of 
General Canales with a guard oF 600 men. 
This march was marked with no unusual 
incidents save the sufferings of the 
weary, footsore prisoners who, all the 
while, were planning among themselves 
to nuike a break for liberty. We arrived 
at Monterey on the 20th, and remained 
until February 2, when we set out for 
Saltillo in charge of General Barragan 
and 350 men, all raw troops except a 
company of regulars, whom we soon 
learned to call Red Caps. During all 
this journey we were seldom free from 
the pangs of hunger, our daily allowance 
being a small piece of lean beef which 
had been boiled. This was doled out to 
us in a pint of water in which the meat 
had been cooked with a few grains of 
rice and a few beans. This stuff, and a 
small piece of dry. stale bread, was 
issued twice a day to each man and was 
barely sufficient to ward off starvation. 
Those who had shared the bounty of the 
generous Englishman at Matamoras 
fared better. There Avas no dearth of 
peddlers along our route. Our coming 
seemed to have been heralded far in 
advance, and every old palado that could 
scrape together a few eggs, tortillas, 
goat milk or goat milk cheese, got out 
on: the road to wait our coming, and 
those who had the money could buy, 
while the moneyless man had tn resort 
to stealing. And if the man without 
money got to the peddler first the latter 
soon found his stock entirely exhausted ; 
he was soon surrounded by the 
friendliest people in the world, who 
oggled him clear away from his basket 
of goods, and when he carried his com- 
plaint to the ofificers they treated it as 
a huge joke — on the pelado. 

The plotting continued. We lay over 
at Saltillo one day and then resumed our 
journey toward the City of Mexico — and 
Perote. Seventy-five miles from Saltillo 
we reached a station called Hacienda 
Salado. Here we came up with Colonel 
Fisher, General Green, Dr. Sheppard and 
their interpreter, Dan Henry, and also 
the old sea captain, Lyons, whom Gen. 
Green had proclaimed as his body 
servant. These officers had been sent 



forward in oi'der to keep them separate 
from us, but now since having penetrated 
far into the interior. Mexican vigilance 
seems to have relaxed to a certain extent, 
and that evening we were corraled some 
of these officers were allowed to visit us 
J'or a short time. 

On arriving at this Hacienda Salado 
we were marched into an enclosure, the 
the walls of which were eight, probably 
ten feet in height. This enclosure more 
properly speaking, corral, was divided 
into two pens or compartments, and into 
the smaller of these we were placed, 
while the larger was occupied by the in- 
fantry guards. The entrance to the pen 
assigned us opened into the compartment 
where the guards were biviouacked, and 
as soon as we all had passed in sentinels 
were placed at this entrance. The sold- 
iers stacked their arms against the south 
wall, every movement being closely ob- 
served by keen watchful eyes. 

At the opposite end of the enclosure, 
and built into the wall, was a house, with 
doorways leading from the main corral 
to the outside. The red caps took up 
quarters in this house for the night. 
During the brief visit of our officers, as 
before mentioned they were assured that 
if we made the break next morning as 
contemplated, we would certainli attack 
their escort and effect their release, but 
it seems that the Mexicans became sus- 
picious and left with their prisoners be- 
fore we made the stampede. At all 
events they were not far away, since 
General Green says in his Histor^ of the 
Mier Expedition that he heard our yells 
and the firing, and that he and his fellow 
prisoners were pushed forward with all 
speed, traveling seventy-five miles be- 
fore they were allowd to halt. But to 
return to the men in the corral. It was 
the night of February 10. There was 
a chill in the air, and as night advanced 
a cold wind swept down from the Sier- 
ras. We had few blankets and we had 
been given only a slender supply of 
wood to light a fire. Before taps there 
was the iisual amount of merriment 
among the boys, and it appeared to me 
that the spirit of fun and repartee ran 
with greater exuberance than, on any 
former occasion, even to the extent 
that it attracted notice on the part of 
.some of our guards, and one of the petty 
officers came in and asked Captain Cam- 
eroo the <;ausfl of the general g()9^ j^Qmor, 



THE ADVEXTTTtES OF A MIER PRTROXER 



He was told that it was in view of tlip 
near approach of St. Valentine's, our 
saint's day, which we always celebrated 
with great rejoicinfr and hilaritj, aince 
it never failed to brinpr frond fortune. 

Lonjr before dfiyligbt on tlie moriiinp: 
(>r the 11th, T rose and made a small fire, 
and while trying to "thaw out," my be- 
numbed limbs T was joined by others, 
Dr. Brenham and Mr. (Vipciand. In 
whispers we began to discuss our chances 
for a break that morning, and I express- 
ed the opinion that the effort woukl not 
be made, that as heretofore, somebody 
would weaken because of the fearful 
hazard and the long distance from Texas, 
and also the fearful odds in point of the 
numbers against us."but" said T. "if the 
break is made, I will be among the first 
in the charge, and I believe T can go as 
far as ;iny man." Mr. Copeland .said 
that the agreemeii' to stampede was sure 
and binding and that we would run over 
guards as if they were a gang of hood- 
lums, and that we would get out in the 
mountains and live on the fat of the land. 
Dr. Cameron had Ix'on a Santa Fe i)rison- 
er and said if he was taken to the City o!" 
Mexico he would be ri;cognized and im- 
mediately ordered to execution. "The 
break will be made tliis morning," said 
he, "if I have (o make it all alone and 
single handed; T would rather die fight- 
ing like a man, here, than to be lefl out 
and shot like a felon at Perote." 

Few of us gave heed to the chill of 
the morning air. The murkey dawn an- 
nounced the approach of a great crisis, 
and it found the men ready, eager and 
waiting for the signal. There was no 
unusual movement observable among the 
men: there was a total absence of that 
spirit of levit.v and good-natured badi- 
nage that had prevaile<1 the evening be- 
fore; a silence that presaged the coming 
of a great event in our lives prevailed : 
the men stood in groups, or sauntered in 
api)arent li.stlesness about the narrow 
confines of our prison as dumb, submis- 
sive eatt'e, waiting the coming of the 
pound master to dole out the mnrning 
provender. Men looked into each others 
faces with inquiring eyes and read de- 
cision in every countenance and grim 
determination in e\ery eye. Our shackles 
were lo be broken, the grave had less 
lerror.s than the dungeons of Perote, our 
backs were to be turned towards Santa 
Anna's boasted capital. ,. ' "aces 



toward home, Texas, and liberty. What 
greater incentive to nerve men to daring 
deeds? I s^v men grasp each others 's 
hands in silence, as if in greeting, en- 
couragment congratulation,, or a final 
larewell. each, seemingly, realizing that 
the minute hand of time was swiftly ap- 
proaching lh(! stroke of tioom, or the 
chime of ficedom for r.ver 200 brave men. 
It was a scene fit to arouse the war gods 
of antiquitj', and to connnand the admir- 
ation of the world. The Spartans at 
Thermopylae were led by tried and ex- 
perienced odicers and in their hands 
swor<ls, sjiears and lances; the immortals 
wlui went down in the Alamo stood be- 
hind walls r.f masonry while their un- 
i-rring eyes glaTiced along the gleaming 
barrels of tl> ■ deadly rifles. The Captives 
of Mier, cold, hungry, their emanciated 
forms el. d in rags that fluttered in re- 
sjionsivf «alute to the mountains' chillincr 
breath ; these stood in expectant silence 
awaiting the signal to spring upon a 
vigilant, heavily-armed foe. Weapons? 
Rare hands, more deft in the arts of 
peace than implements of warfai'e 
Armor? Rugged breasts that never ((nak- 
ed with fear, always turned to the enemy, 
and faces that never blanched in the pre- 
sence of danger. Rut these coarse, 
brawny hands were not without missiles 
and rude implements of hurtling desisrn. 
Let me relate one instance: At Saltillo. 
one of our guards derisively cast at 
Rate Berry's feet an old cast-off infantry- 
man's .iacket, a mass of tatters that, 
ordinarily, a rag: picker would have 
kicked aside. Ever on the alert. Berry 
tool,- it up and fin-ding one of the sleeves 
pnrtifill.'- in tact, removed it and coji- 
cenled it underneath the folds of his 
own dilapidated raiment. With this 
empt.\- s'eeve aiul a small round stone, 
■weighing about one pound, he fashioned 
a slingshot, and with this rude and 
primitive weapnn he brainwl two of the 
guards when the break was made — his 
first blood ?)tTeriiig on the aHar of revenge 
All eyes were fixed upon Sam Walker 
and Captain Ryan as they careles.sly ad 
vanced towai^ls the doorway leading in- 
to the compartment occupied by the 
guards. Captain Ryan after looking 
through the gateway, turned an<l said 
something to those who stood near, and 
the word was soon whispered around : 
"Too late: tlie Red Caps were already 
under arms!" Rvan and Walker still 



THE ADYFA'TURES OF A MIER PRISONER 



stond ill the (iooi-\v;iy ns if wiiiting, while 
('apt. Cameron stood a lew stops directly 
in their rear. Tlie sun wa.s risinj^f, the 
silpDce most oppressive, and the suspense 
amounted to torture. Suddenly Capt. 
Cameron threw oft" his hat and p^ishing 
up Ills sleeves, his face aflame witli a 
stranfife li^ht shouted: "Now is your 
tfnie! Come on. boys!" With Walker at 
his side, these two vn-re the first to rush 
through the jrateway, each grappling 
with a sentinel whom they disarmed and 
knoeked doM'n. With piercing shouts 
and deal'ening yells our men jionred 
through the gateway, crushing the feeble 
resistance offered until they reached the 
stack of arms at the south wall; this 
point reached, and seeing us in po.ssession 
of their guns, the guards either begged 
(juarter oi tied precipitately through the 
front gatewaj'. A few stoutly resisted. 
Iiiit these were knocked down, run over, 
ilisarmed and a few killed. It was here 
that Berry got in his deadly work with 
his sling-shot. Wiicn I got to the stack 
of guns I grabbed a short musket, but 
imagine our chagrin when we found that 
the guns were not loaded. During this 
brief time the Red V:q)s were firing, but 
it seemed more like a rambling, desultory 
fire, without any particular aim, and 
when we had siezed the guns and were 
making a rush for the amunition, these 
valient Red Caps took to flight, joined 
by the Infantry, or those who had suc- 
ceeded in getting out of our reach. As 
T passed through this main entrance I 
saw the brave Dr. Brenham and a man by 
the name of Lyons lying dead. Both 
had been Santa Fe prisoners, and had 
fallen as they emerged from the en- 
closure. One or two others whose names 
T do not recall, had been killed near 
them. 

Ir recjuired only a brief moment to sup- 
ply ourselves with amunition, and seeing 
the I\Iesieans scampering off in every 
directiofi a rush was made for their 
horses which were being held near by. 
Of these we captured about 100 head, 
sufticient to mount less than half of our 
men. Five of our men were killed in 
this action and a number wounded. We 
paroled our prisoners with the distinct 
understanding that the wounded we 
would be compelled to leave should re- 
ceive Jiumane care and treatment. We 
spent a couple of hours burying our 
fallen comrades, making our wounded— 



those to be left Dehind — as comfortabU 
as possible, collecting amunition, provi- 
sions and other things that would prove 
useful on our journey. Next to the arms 
and horses our most important capture 
was the military chest, which contained 
$1,400. 

Along about 10 o'clock we faced abo«t 
and took /'up the line of march for horns 
and Texa'?. We took turn about riding 
and walking, and with radiant faces 
pursued the route we had followed after 
leaving SaUillo, and during the re- 
mainder of that day and a few hours of 
night travel we covered the distance that 
required two days' travel while under 
gujird. In other words, we halted at a 
point 'wliere we had camped two nights 
before. Here, finding a house well filled 
with corn, we fed our horses, ate supper, 
remounted and proceeded about six miles 
and went into camp. The next morning, 
finding ourselves within about ten miles 
of Saltillo. a halt was called and the 
question submitted as to whether we 
should, leave .the main road and try to 
make our escape through the mountains 
or pursue our pjeseiit course and take 
chancees on cutting our way through. 
Our most sagacious leaders opposed 
leaving the main highway. They readi- 
ly admitted the force of the argument 
advanced by those in favor of the moun- 
tain route. True, they said, the news 
of our uprising will travel on the wings 
of the wind, a large force will doubtless 
be in waiting to intercept us at Saltillo. 
and even should we get past the town 
in safety, every mile of the road to 
the Rio* Grande will be beset with 
dangers. But in the face of this, con- 
sider what we have acoomplished this 
day. With bare hands we have over- 
come our enemies, three to one, captured 
their arms, we ought to vanquish any 
number of convict soldiers Santa Anna 
may send against us. Take to the moun- 
tains, they argued, and we are lost. We 
would have to encounter all the extermes 
of heat and cold, traverse trackless 
wastes, climb lofty heights, follow the 
meanderings of boulder-strewn canyons 
and hew our way across arid plains set 
with forests of hurtling cactus, without 
food, without water, with absolutely no 
hope of escape. 

The question was put to a vote and * 
majority stood in favor of the mountain 
route. Fatal decision ! 



THE ADVENTURES OF A MIER PRISONER 



The break at Salado was made Feb- 
ruary 11, 1843, and after leaving the 
road and directing our wandering steps 
into the mountains, I soon lost al) reckon- 
ing as to dates. 

Leaving Saltillo to Hie right, we struck 
into the mountains, and for two days we 
traveled over abandoned trails and roads. 
In the afternoon of the third day we 
came to a small station occupied by a 
few soldiers. Captain Cameron sent 
John Brennan fonvard to ask if we could 
obtain water and provisions, but when 
he approached within hailing distance 
he was ordered away on pain of being 
.shot, learning of which Cameron decided 
it best to proceed without further dis- 
turbance. The next day we came to 
another military post, and as we ap- 
proached, the occupants opened a brisk 
fire upon us at a distance of at least 500 
yards. "Comncts," said Patrick Mahan, 
"just out of the penitentiary, and the 
officers want them to get used to the 
sound of their own guns, which are about 
as safe at one end a.s at the other, and 
little harm in either." 

We did not return their weakling fire 
but passed on. The next morning we 
struck a road, and after traveling some 
distance, came to water and went into 
camp, and while resting at this point an 
Englishman, accompanied by a Mexican 
officer came to us and inquired for our 
leader. Captain Cameron was pointed 
out, and after introducing himself and 
discoverine that Cameron was a Scotch- 
man, the Briton became quite communi- 
cative and displayed the most friendly 
solicitude for our well-being. He said 
he knew the country, and gave Cameron 
explicit directions with regard to the 
route be should pursue, and on parting 
ofipered the Captain a well filled purse 
as an earnest of his friendship. This 
was politely declined the Captain inform- 
ing him that he already possessed ample 
funds for present wants. All the while, 
the Mexican maintained slilence. and 
after their departure we were unable to 
surmise the object of his coming unless 
he came as a sj).v. However, we followed 
the EngVihman's directions until towards 
night, when certain signs ami surround- 
ings led us to ooTiclude tliat he was a 
treacherous rascal, a ^•^llainous .spy in 
the pay of Santa Anna, and that his ob- 
ject was to lead us into a snare. Where- 
upon we aban(^onec! thfi route designated 



by the Englishman, and the day follow- 
ing we ascended to the summit of a higli 
mountain, and from (uir lofty elevation 
we discovered a canyon, which, bavin;: 
its source near the base of the mountain, 
stretched awa.v toward the east, tin 
course we wanted to pursue. We mail' 
our wa.v down the rugged side of tlii^ 
mountain and entered the canyon, and il 
seemed the farther we advanced tlic 
higher the perpendicular walls of granite 
grew and the more broken and difficult 
the surface of the boulder-strewn floor, 
with here and there breaks or falls of 
two to four feet at first, but increasing 
in height, or rather depth, as we pro 
ceeded. Over a number of these it be 
came necssary to push our horses, whicli 
was rathi-r perilous. an<i a few of tiir 
poor animals sustained severe bruises 
and contn.sioiis in the operation. Having 
passed one of these declivities of six feet 
perpendicular fall, we came to one of at 
least fifteen feet, forming a farrier that 
forbade all hope of further advance with 
our horses. The .six-foot wall was just 
behind us, at our feet was a fifteen-foot 
precipice; we could neither advance nor 
retrace our steps; we could on'y kill our 
faithful horses. It was a sad, heart 
rending ordeal, and touched the most oh 
durate heart. These patient animals 
had borne us thus far, and even now, 
while we were planning their destruction 
in their famished condition, their gentlo 
lustrious e.ves were turned upon us ap 
pealingly for relief. But there was im 
alternative; we also were threatened 
with starvation, and the .sacrifice had td 
be made. The die was cast, the horses 
were slaughtered, and some of the jnen 
drank their warm blood in order to re- 
lieve their consuming thirst. As the 
meat of these horses was beinc prepared 
for transportation, some of the men went 
down the can.von in search of water, 
which was found in a basin two miles 
below. The quantity was small, about 
twio barrels, and T made two trips with 
as many Spanish gourds as I could carry 
when filled. In tl'.ose da.vs the Spanish 
gourd was used instead of the canteen 
Here a division was made of the $1,400 
we had captured, m.v portion amount 
ing to .$7.0(». 

From this point of desolation we re- 
sumed our march, each man carrying a 
supply of raw horse meat. Ours was a 
dry camp that night and we traveled a]! 



THE ADVENTURES OF A MIBR PRISONER 



next day without water. In the after- 
noon of that day Captain Cameron dir- 
rcicd that those having sufficient strength 
ri-maining should scour the country to 
five right and left of our course and 
search for water, while he, with those 
so nearly exhausted, would move for- 
ward to a designated mountain peak in 
the distance, where we would all rendez- 
vous. I went with the squad that turned 
to the right and after a fruitless search 
«e ascended the mountain and waited 
until all the men came up. From this 
point we saw in our front a broad valley 
with a lofty range of mountains beyoaid, 
and in this valley there was a small 
round mountain, which Captain Cameron 
jvointed out and said we would leave 
that elevation on our left. 

Water! water! was the cry of the fam- 
ishing men, and some, through sheer ex- 
haustion, had thrown away their guns 
and blankets. We descended the moun- 
tain. I among the foremost, and when I 
reached the valley my thirst was so in- 
tense that I struck out alone in search of 
water, and finding none, went to the top 
of the little round mountain, where I had 
an exceUent view of the surrounding 
I'ountry, but discovered no indications of 
water anywhere. It was a vast picture 
of aridity and desolation. Borderinig on 
despair, I threw mj' blanket over a bush 
to shelter me from the scorching rays of 
the sun and lay down in the shade thus 
afforded to await the coming of Cameron. 
In a short time Jack Johnson and Gibson 
came up. The evening was far advanced 
and as Cameron failed to appear, we con- 
cluded that he had changed his course 
and g^n€ in the direction of a mountain 
pass that we could see northeast of us. 

A little to the left of that gap or pass 
we could see two very high peaks with a 
low elevation between them, and realiz- 
ing the probability that this pass or gap 
would be guarded, we decided that we 
would avoid the pass and attempt to 
cross over the low swell between the 
two peaks. Acting upon this decision 
we three set out and traveled the remain- 
der of the day and night, our famished 
condition rendering our progress slow 
and extremely painful. A heavy fog 
prevailed next morning, somewhat to 
our relief, and as we entered a small 
valley we suddenly came upon four of 
our comrades, Ackerman, Arthur, Cash 
and Jim Neely. Our little s^uad now 



numbered seven and we pushed on in the 
direction of the peaks until noon, when 
we halted, and while trying to pres.s ji 
little moisture from the piths of a 
species of dagger tree Gibson wandered 
away and was lost — delirious of thirst 
and hardship. 

We six finally reached the base of the 
mountain and during the night made the 
ascent, reaching the summit an hour or 
two before daylight. Here we lay down 
and slept, and during my sleep I had 
one of those peculiar dreams experienced, 
it is said only by those on the verge of 
dissolution from* thirst and starvation. 
I was being welcomed at home, and 
was at a great feast prepared by gener- 
ous relatives and frie<nds. Long tables 
laden with viands, rich, rare and bounte- 
ous, were before me, and I was urged 
to eat. I craved water, only water, and 
when this was forthcoming I emptied 
each jar as it was brought to me and 
called for more. Each draught seemed 
to inflame my thirst, and yet on one of 
the vast company seemed astonished at 
the amount of water I drank. My 
thirst was unquenchable. 

From this tantalizing creature of a 
distempered brain I awoke at daylight. 
We dragged our emaciated bodies dowji 
the mountain side and as we reached the 
])lain we glanced up to the right and our 
eager eyes caught the silver sheen of a 
waterfall. Glorious vision ! We hasten- 
ed around the point of the mountain 
and came to a beautiful stream of clear, 
cold water. We had bee(n four days 
without this life-preserving element, and 
here we rested during the remainder of 
the day, drinking and bathing and 
feasting on the now partially spoiled 
hoise meat that yet remained. 

Leaving this stream we proceeded on 
our eastward course, and after traveliu'r 
quite a di.stance we discovered a man 
on foot pursuing a road that led north- 
ward, and on taking our bearings we 
found that we wen; near the entrance to 
a pass through which the road led and 
fearing to go through this pass during 
the daj^time, we went into concealment 
and lay by until nightfall, after which 
we entered the pa.ss, where we found 
water, and while replenishing our water 
gourds a horseman passed near us, going 
northward. As soon as he passed out 
of hearing we follosved, find after pro- 
ceeding about a lailft vre emerged from 



THE ADTEXTT-KES OF A MTER PRISONER 



the pass an»J (■iiUm-ihI a valley. Jim 
Neely liail reniaiiicd a short flistanc(! he- 
liind as a sort of rear gruarrl. and when 
we Lad pone some distance in the valley 
he came up and said some one was dog- 
gfingr our stops. On this notice we moved 
off about forty yaids from the road and 
waited develoiimcTits. Tlie moon was 
shining, and presently a footman came 
along. When opposite whvre we lay 
he halted, ami alter a moment as if 
listening, he called out in a low tone of 
voice: "Boys, where are you?" The 
stranger jji'oved to be Major Oldham, 
and I never saw a man so overjoyed to 
get back into good, but very forlorn, 
company. The Major reported as fol- 
lows: "I remained with Capt. Cameron 
two days alter you left him and from 
the time of your departure the men 
maddened with thirst, began to wander 
off. singly and in groups, searching for 
water. No persuasion, no advice or 
counsel could deter them; they were 
crazed with burning, consuming thirst, 
the Mexicans picking them up here and 
there. Captain Pearson, with elevem 
men, myself included, became separated 
from the others and while searching for 
water. I and Thompson being consider- 
ably in the rear, a squad of cavalry sur- 
rounded Pearson, capturing him and 
the men with him. The Mexicans failed 
to see us, and hence our narrow escape. 
When this cavalcade had gone I and 
Thom|)son proceeded in quest of water, 
and when we came to a pass in the 
mountains we discovered a Mexican 
camp. By this time Thompson was wild 
and said there was water in that camp 
and he was going to get it. I tried to 
dis.suade him, but to no effect. He was 
determined and, giving me his gun and 
ammunition, we shook hands and he was 
off. This occurred during the night, 
and to avoid discovery, when daylight 
came T concealed myself in a deep gulley 
and remained there all day, my position 
being in full view of the Mexican camp. 
.About .sundown a large body of Mexican 
cavalry passed near me, going in the 
direction of the gap in the mountain 
where they went into camp. This oc- 
(•u])ancy of the gap forced me to climb 
the mountain in order to evade the 
enemy thus placed on guard, and when 
I had accomplished this toilsome feat 
T descended into the gap, where I found 
water the first I had obtained in five 



days. After satisfying tu .M.iiic <'.\lriil 
my thirst I filled my only water vessel, 
a tin cup. and resumed my journey 
northward and con.tinued until overcome 
with exhaustion. 1 dropped down and 
slept, until morning, and when I awoke 
a bird Avas sitting on my breast almost 
siilitting his liltle throat with his morn- 
iiig song. When I moved he flew away, 
and I regarded the incident as being a 
goo<l omen; it gave me new courage and 
I resumed my travels with a lighter 
heart and continued until 1 overtM.ik 
vou boys." 

With the arrival of .Major ojdliam 
our i)arty again numbci'ed sc\'en, and 
pushing ahead, avi- Irave'ed the remain- 
der of that night and all next ilay with- 
out water. Late in the evening we came 
to an arroyo where we expected to 
find more water, but not a drop 
was to be found. After resting awhile, 
.lolinsoii and Cash proposed going up the 
ai-royo as far as a designated iioinl. 
where they Wiuld remain in waitini: 
for us while we explored certain gulelies 
that led off in the direction indicated. 
They firmly believed that water could be 
found somewhere in that vicinity. Later, 
wheo we reached the point designated, 
a small elevation, these two men were 
nowhere to be seen, and made no 
response to our lepeated calls. With 
heavy hearts we went forward. I love<l 
Cash, and it grieved me to lose him in 
that impossible wilderness, and my 
grief was greatly intensified long after- 
ward when I learned that he was 
among those recaptured who drew the 
black bean at Salado and was cruelly 
murdered 

Our little squad of wanderers was 
now reduced to five and that night, still 
being without water, we lay down and 
slept until morning, when, upon rising, 
we discovered that we were at the head 
of two "draws" or valleys. Mr. Acker- 
man said he would follow down the one 
on riglit while we moved down along 
that on the left, and that we would 
meet at the confluence of the two. 
which did not seem very far distant. 
We never saw Mr. Ackerman again. 
On reaching the conHuence of the two 
valleys, we waited and called repeateilly, 
but receiving no answer and giving him 
up for lost, we continued our course, 
our number now being reduced to four, 
and after having traveled several hours 



THE ADYEXTT'RES OF A MTER PRISONER 



\vp came to a dry ari'oyo, where wc 
found eattle traeks. whieh ^ave us the 
assuranee that water was near at hand. 
Followinp the cattle sigrn ui) the arroyo 
we had not prone far wlien Major Oldham 
iind Mr. Arthur yielded to exliaustion. 
Levinp: them with the promise that if 
we found water we wiuld return to their 
succor, I and Neely pushed forward 
but we had not ])i-cceeded very far when 
T also had to fall by the wayside. Neely 
left nie to continue the search, and in 
about half an hour I heard his signal 
announcing the discovcr.y of water. lie 
hurried back with the good tidings, and 
related having seen an old bull at the 
watering place, wliieli he said I must 
kill, as we needed beef. While Neely 
Avent to the relief of Major Oldham and 
Arthur I managed to reach the water 
hole, whieh I found contained very litt'e 
water. However, with my hands I 
scraped out a basin in the yielding mud 
and clay and soon had a bountiful sup- 
ply. Meanwhile my three comrades 
had come up, and after a short rest 
Neely borrowed the Major ',s gun and we 
set out to kill the old bull, whieh we 
succeeded in doing after having fired 
three shots and engaging m almost a 
hand to hand fighr, before bringing him 
down. In the entire party there was 
only one knife, an old worn out jjocdcet 
knife, and with this makeshift we found 
it a laborious task removing sutfieient 
hide to enable us to carve out a few 
chunks of meat 

We remained there two day,^ and 
nights, resting, recupei-ating, drying 
meat, feasting on tough roasts and re- 
l)airing our footwear with bull hide. 
Major Oldham mended his gun stock 
which Jim Neely had liroken ovei- the 
head of the old bull. 

We left this camp greatly refreshed 
late one evening and during the night 
Neely and Arthur because *parated 
from us. niseo\-ering theiv absence we 
ascended a high ridge nearby and called, 
.shouted, fired our gun and waited, but 
tliey did not answer, and we two. Major 
Oldham and I, were forced to proceed 
without them, and pledging ourselves 
to stay together, even to the end. we 
•set forth, persuaded that those brave 
men who had separated from us did so 
through choice, preferring to take 
chances alone rather than risk them- 
.selves in the companv witli olhpis ;inii 



(ui tlie ]irinciple tliat one man can pass 
unobserved through a country easier 
than a |)arty of men. 

That night we rested in a stony valley 
that trended northM-ard. and this we 
followed through the day, pas.sing large 
foi-ests of pine and oak. Late in tlie 
evening we came to the head of this 
valley and next morning we reached the 
top of a mountain, from which we saw 
in the distance catt'e grazing in a valley 
that lay in front. We descended into 
this valley and, after a toilsome da.v's 
travel, went into camp, as usual, with- 
out water. During the night a 'possum 
vi.sited us, was captured, and, after go- 
ing a short distance next morning. ,we 
found water, roasted our 'possum, made 
a euj) of horsemint tea, and feasted; 
our sujiply of bull beef having been ex- 
hau.sted. That evening we reached a 
stream and along toward sundown we 
saw eattle coming to water. Here was 
a chaiuee for more beef, and taking my 
stand near a deep cut or trail in the 
bank. T waite<l until a nice, fat two-year- 
old heifer came along and shot her. 
We biult a fire and began barbecuing 
the nu'at. whieh we found far more pala- 
table than our late ration of bull beef. 

Here let me say, that from this time 
until we i-eaclied San Antoino, my nar- 
i-ative cannot reeollect dates and details 
of eneli day's travel. We had lost ail 
record of time. 

Loading ourselves with a good sui)ply 
of nice beef, we broke camp and travel- 
ed three days iu a northeast course, 
without water. At last we came to a 
dry arroyo and, following it .some dis- 
tance down stream, we came to high 
t)lul1' beneafli which was a depression. 
With iu>- iiands 1 scraped (Uit a mnall 
jiit in this dejiression and soon had a 
supiily of water. After satisfying our 
thirst, we noticed a number of bees 
swarming around t)ic water and T soon 
obtained a "bee course" following which 
about 200 yards below, I di.sciovered a 
bee cave in the wall of the arroyo, about 
eiglit feet from the base. With Major 
Oldham's bayonet we scooi)ed out all 
the honey our tin cujis would hold and 
went into eaimp. Either from eating 
too much honey or from the effects of 
tile bee stings, the Major came near 
dying that night, but by morning relief 
came and he was able to stir around. 



THE ADVENTURES OF A MIER PRISONER 



the lower ends, revisited the bee cave 
and fdled them with honey for future 
use. 

Late iti the after noon, next day after 
leavinp our ))oe camp, we came into a 
road, and a few minutes later we were 
overtaken by a young Mexican on horse- 
back. In response to our inquiries he 
said he lived lon the road about a league 
distant. He seemed quite obliging, 
gave us some leaf tobacco an-d a cake of 
brexid, and refused the offer of pay, say- 
ing that all our wants would be supplied 
and kind hospitality accorded us on 
reaching his home. His seeming gener- 
osity so far wrought upon the major 
that, over my protest, he allowed him to 
carry his gun, the Major hardly able to 
walk because of physical exhaution ; the 
riddance of the burdensome gun was a 
great relief. Darkness overtaking us, I 
told the major he must recover his gun, 
that that Mexican, like all others of his 
class, was a rascal. The major yielded, 
and when he asked for his "shootin' 
iron" the Mexican put spurs to his horse, 
and that was the last of the major's old 
musket. A few minutes later we beard 
the barking of dogs and from this we 
inferred that the Mexican had reached 
home. The night was intensely dark, 
with a misting rain, and we could scarce- 
ly follow the roail, but moved forward 
until we found ourselves in what seemed 
to be a village, or a large ranch, judging 
from the number of lights that issued 
from a number of doors and windows. 
To avoid di.scovcry, we turned off to the 
left and entered an irrigated field where, 
for some time we floundered around in 
mud, slime, and ditches, until we 
came at a late hour to a rippling stream 
about forty yards wide and rather deep. 
We forded this river with great diffi- 
culty, as the water was over waist deep 
and very swift. Being much taller in 
stature, I had to carry our scant baggage 
over and then return and assist the 
major. We next found ourselves in a 
dense swanp, and, finding a place com- 
parati-vely dry. we halted and slept un- 
til morning. Rising early we proceeded 
on our way, and that evening we found 
our.selves in a sheep range and coming 
up with a herder, we took charge of him 
and tried to purchase a sheep, which he 
positively refused to sell, saying they 
were not his i)roperty and that he had 
nci nnthority to dispr.sc of even one 



sheep. Wc gave him to understand that 
we were hungry and were going to have 
a mutton, and with certain very effective 
powers of i)ersuasion we induced him 
to catch the fattest finest sheep in the 
flock, one of our own selection. For 
his trouble we gave him the head and 
hide, paying him a dollar for the sheep. 
T also gave him 25 cents for an old sway- 
back butcher knife, which I lost a few 
days later. We asked this honest 
simpleton many questions which, I 
believe, he answeied correctly in so far 
as his very limited knowlege cxtendtid. 
We told him we were on our way to 
Kendalia, but when bcj'ond his sight 
we changed our course, went into camp 
on a river and barbecued our mutton. 

From this place we traveled two days 
and nights without water, and on the 
second day while resting, prone upon the 
ground, we heard a low, sullen roar, 
the source of which we decided was a 
Little to the right of our course. We also 
decided tliat it was the sound of a 
waterfall, which it proved to be. Pushing 
on down the mountain through the dark- 
ness, we reached the falls of a beautiful 
river, where we camped, made a cup of 
mint tea and devoured the last of our 
mutton supply. 

Continuing up the river valley the 
next day, late in the afternoon we found 
ourselves in another sheep range, and 
while seeking the shepherd we came up- 
on his shanty and flock pens. We enter- 
ed this jacal, or shantj', took possession 
and made ourselves quite at home. 
Looking around we found a mug of goat's 
milk and a small supply of tortillas, 
which we promptly transferred to the 
department of the interior. Wc also 
found about three quarts of shelled 
corn and a small amount of mutton suet 
which found lodgement in our wallets. 
This was all in the way of provisions, 
we could find; among other things, in 
the herdsman's wardrobe I found a pair 
of tanned goat skin pants, all complete 
save the waistband. Of my old pants 
all that remained was the waist band. 
These new pants fitted me to a fraction, 
and, splicing them on my old waistband. 
I went forth as proud as any boy with 
his first pair of breeches. A bunch of 
kids were playing about the pens and 
wc tried to secure one of these, but fail- 
ed on account of our extreme weakness 
from hunger (in^ hardships, Leavinp 



THE ADVENTURES OF A MIER PRISONER 



this ranch and going some distance, we 
found a secluded place where we lighted 
a fire, parched a supply of corn in the 
embers, and that, with the mutton suet, 
formed the menu for our supper, which 
we greatly enjoyed. 

Before us was a river, and to get 
across this deep stream was our next 
task. We soon came to a point where 
there was an island, where we found a 
fallen tree across the other channel, 
which was quite deep, and on this foot- 
log we passed safely to the opposite 
shore and without water we traveled the 
two days following, and on the third 
day a furious 'norther blew up. and owing 
to the intense cokl we were forced to 
lay by a day and n.^ght, following there 
came a heavy frost,- and after this had 
cleared away we set forward and late 
that evening I became deathly sick. 
Major Oldham made a fire and did all he 
could for my relief, but I steadily grew 
worse, and believeing: that my hour had 
come, I begged him (to leave me and try 
to make his way thA-ough, that we were 
starving, and it would be folly for him 
to waste time in a hopeless case. He re- 
minded me of ou'- pledge to stand by each 
other through all danger, and that he 
would not violate that obligation. Dur- 
ing the day following the Major's at- 
tack of illness at the bee cave camp, he 
came upon an herb Avhich was in great 
repute among the house/lvives in Texas 
as being a sovereign remedy for a great 
variety of ills. This herb; he said was 
balmona, and he pulled up a handful 
and stowed it away in his w^let for use 
in case of an emergency. I When he 
found that my cf.se was really serious 
he thought of his herb and br»(wed a cup 
of the most villainous eonip<iund I ever 
tasted. In a short time it took effect, and 
the elt'ect was nearly as fierce as the 
disease, but it brought me^ around, and 
by morning I was able ti( move about. 
In the afternoon I was fible to travel at 
a slow gait and an reachmg an elevation 
we could see ahead of us a long belt of 
timber, and when withiii- about a mile 
of this timber, we discovered a couple of 
deer, and taking my gun, Oldham man- 
aged bj' stealth to kill one of these, 
which we carried to the timber which as 
we surmised, was on the bank of a large 
bold river. It being near night we 
went into camp, and while I went to the 
river to get water the Major roasted the 



deer's liver and some venison. We had 
no salt, but the viands were savory and 
greatly relished. Going down to the 
river bank next morning, we decided 
that we had reached the Rio Grande and 
joy filled our souls as we gazed upon the 
opposite shore and said to each other, 
"That is grand old Texas!" We 
traveled down the river two days seek- 
ing means of crossing, and on the morn- 
ing of the third day we came to an old 
stock pen built of poles. We were 
elated over the find and proceeded to 
make a raft. When it was completed. 
Major Oldham mounted the front end 
of our raft, while I toiok station aft, and 
with poles we launched forth on our 
voyage and landed safely in Texas. 
Removing our slim cargo we set the raft 
adrift and continued our course, down 
the valley, and on the second day we 
discovered .signs which convinced us 
that we were approaching a settlement. 
We bore to the left, being satisfied that 
we were near Laredo, and it was our 
plan to lave the towTi t>o the right and, 
if possible, to get into the San Antonio 
road. It was now night, and "there be- 
ing so many noads we became confused, 
and crossed the one we were seeking 
without being aware that it was the San 
Antonio route, so we . decided to halt. 
Next morning we heard a church bell, 
which seemed close by, and found our- 
selves near the river below town. Tak- 
ing our bearings, we set out, and soon 
came to a road that seemed to lead in 
the right direction, and while deliberat- 
ing on the advisability of following this 
road, a Mexican rode up within forty 
yards of us, halted, and while eyeing us, 
I called out, "Buenas dias, amigo!" 
whereupon he wheeled his horse and fled 
with all speed back the way he came, 
toward town. Just then we concluded 
that we could get along without a road, 
and turning eastward, we pi-oceeded 
a dense chaparral, satisfied that 
the pelado who had discovered us would 
soon have a gang of his eompaneros at 
our heels. After going about teu miles 
we came to a creek which we recognized 
as one we had crossed during our march 
to Laredo, and nightfall being at hand, 
we went into camp. The next morning, 
after proceeding about two hundred 
yards, we came to the San Antonio road. 
Befoi-e entering this road we peered 
cautiously up and down the road to s«e 



IK Al)\ IvN'I'l 



<>!• A .Ml EH PRISONER 



if the way was plear, and about four 
liiindreil yards north of us we saw a 
.Mt^xican standing near his horse as il' 
waiting,' for some oni-. We, sceinf? no 
way to get around him, concealed our- 
selves in a gulch nearby, which emptied 
into the creek. From this hiding place 
we watched the Mexican, and ai'ter 
waiting a short while he mounted and 
rode down to the creek and watered 
his hor.se within twenty steps of us, tlien 
rode up on the bank, dismounted, and lay 
down while his horse was allowed to 
graze. He was not thirty steps away. 
We could almost hear him breathing, 
and we decide<i to arrest him, take him 
along for a day's travel and , then turn 
him loose, afoot. We needed his horse. 
Just as we were about to carry this jilan 
into effect, a large ]Kirty of Mexicans 
were seen coming down tiie road from 
the direction this Mexican had come. 
Being in the gulch, well hidden by the 
tall grass, we hugged the ground, now 
and then peering out to observe the 
enemy, thinking probably that after all 
our miseries and hardships we might be 
iliscovered, retaken, and that, too, so 
near home. But fortune once more 
favored us. The cavalcade passed on, 
within a few steps of us. The lazy 
pelado remounted and joined his 
imlsanos, and they were soon out of sight, 
going toward Laredo. Our natural con- 
clusion was that the fellow whom we had 
liailed near town had hastened into 
Laredo, told of having seen two Te.janos, 
and this was the returning company 
that had been sent to head us oft" and 
i-ecapture us. 

After a wearisome day's travel, that 
night we camped at tlu' "Thirty Mile" 
water hole, and tlie night following we 
reached the Nueces without incident, 
save that during the evening I found A 
pair of .saddle baggs which contained a 
Texas soldier's regulation coat, three 
shirts, a fine silk handkerchief, some to- 
bacco and a few bars of lead. The coat 
iiud shirt came as a godsend. Wc were 
needy. On the next day our meat suji- 
ply failed; deer were plentiful, but we 
faiUd to kill any, although the major 
(ired several shots at close range. When 
we reached tlie Frio river we found a 
great many wild turkeys. I wasted 
three shots trying to kill one without 
success. Those Mexican muskets were 
not made for a Texan. The next morn- 



ing Major (')ldhaiu fired our last i-ound of 
powder at a deer and brought it down 
in its tracks. By this time our hunger 
had become ravenous, and removing the 
liver, we hasilly built a fire and cooked 
and ate it in short order. The meat we 
barbecued after carrying it with us until 
we came to watei-. Two days later wt- 
reached tiu' Medina river, where we 
pa.ssed tiie night with a hospitable Mex- 
ican, from whom we learned of the re- 
capture of our comrades and that every 
tenth man had been shot. We also 
learned that it was then the foin-th day 
of April — nearly two months since we 
made the break at Salado, and yet it 
seemed an age. Tjie next day we reach- 
ed San Antonio. 'Pwo prouder and yet 
more ragged. unecJuth and more forlorn 
looking men never p.ntered the plaza of 
that old town. Mcii, women and chil- 
dren gazed at tis 'with wonder until it 
became quickly known that we were 
Mier prisoners who had escaped from 
Salado, and when )rliis news was carried 
through the city \ve became the object 
of a solicitude and eomjiassion which we 
felt that we did nott altogether merit. 
Tn truth the attentions we received were 
so generous and spt)ntaneous that to an 
extent they became embarassing. Homes 
were thrown open to ns, the town was 
ours, every Avant was anticipated and 
supplied, clothing, saddles, bridles, and 
horses to carrj; us home. For tliree days 
we enjoyed rthe s])!endid hospitalities of 
the great-pOuled peoj^le of San Antonio, 
and during which time a great many — 
fathers, 'pothers, wives and sisters — 
flocked to us to learn the fate of sons, 
brothers, husbands or relatives. 

From 'Ran Antonio we went to our 
homes in Kayette county, where there 
was a repetition of the hospitality shown 
l)y San Antonio and where we had the 
same questions propoundeil and the same 
answers to render. This closes the ac- 
count of my capture and escape as a 
member of tile Mier expedition, an ac- 
count as nei.r correct m its details as I 
can give frjo'iii memory, it being written 
for niv chililren ai'.d grand children. 



FRONTIER TIMES, devoted to Fron- 
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Achievement. Published monthly at 
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per copy. Send your subscription to J. 
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